London mark - what period?

rusei · Post by **rusei** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:33 am

Hi together,

please help me finding out the period of the marks. Could this "G" be London 1842??
And what makers mark is this CTWW??

Thanks a lot for your skilled help!!

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nigel le sueur · Post by **nigel le sueur** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:43 pm

Rusei
The makers are Thomas Whipham and Charles Wright (Grimwades 2976) this partnership was registered in 24th October 1757
This item is dated 1762
My own opinion is that this tankard was probaly altered in victorian times with the embossed decoration of the "hunting scene" which was quite common

Regards

Nigel
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kerangoumar · Post by **kerangoumar** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:23 am

just another point which is so nicely illustrated here - generally (tho there are exceptions) the larger the marks, the older the marks. again, as i said, there are exceptions but it has worked well for me so far.
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rusei · Post by **rusei** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:10 am

nigel le sueur wrote:My own opinion is that this tankard was probaly altered in victorian times with the embossed decoration of the "hunting scene" which was quite common

What exactly do you mean with altererd? Do you think only the bottom ist from 1762 and the top newer? How can we find out?

Thanks very much!!!
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rusei · Post by **rusei** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:17 am

nigel le sueur wrote:(Grimwades 2976)

Hi Nigel,

what is/means Grimwades??
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kerangoumar · Post by **kerangoumar** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:36 pm

rusei

the georgian pieces - especially mugs etc - were very plain - they had lovely lines that appealed to the aesthetic of the day.

but the victorians loved exuberance and showiness because it announced to the world that they had made it and could afford - for example - the black walnut sideboard with a heap of dead animals carved all over it - and the plainness of the georgian silver annoyed them.

so there is a huge amount of georgian silver that has been "victorianized" if you will - later additions - quite skilled in most instances - added to "improve" the silver.

there is nothing wrong with your silver although a purist would say it has been ruined (there is a lively debate on this that extends even to monogramming flat- and hollow-ware being seen as "ruining" the silver)
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nigel le sueur · Post by **nigel le sueur** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:30 am

Rusei

Grimwades is prehaps the "bible" when it comes to identifying London smiths between 1697-1837.

l refered to the number the book has identified the mark on your tankard.

lt is an excellent reference book, (there are others, so l am not showing bias :-) )but out of print although there are copies around.

Regards

Nigel
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